The state Legislature approved four property tax bills that will save homeowners more than $3 billion over the next three years, changes how millage is counted for school districts and permits county budget commissions to control levy amounts.

A fifth property tax bill was approved Nov. 12 by the state Senate after getting Ohio House approval June 4.

“With these five bills, this is the most impactful property tax reform we’ve had in the last half century,” said state Rep. David Thomas, R-Jefferson, who represents portions of Trumbull County. “These bills prevent unvoted spikes, give decreases to most homeowners and give people a say on their tax bill.”

Thomas was the lead sponsor on all five bills, including the four approved late Wednesday by the House and Senate. The bills will be signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican.

The most notable change from the property tax reforms that were approved last month by the Ohio House is a state Senate amendment that shifts about $800 million over three years in tax credits to homeowners.

After the Senate included the amendment, the House voted late Wednesday on the change.

Currently, homeowners get a 2.5% owner-occupancy tax credit on levies passed on or before 2013 and are renewed, and a 10% nonbusiness credit on those same levies, Thomas said.

Over the next four years, the nonbusiness credit will be eliminated — lowered annually for three years, and then terminated except for agricultural land — while the owner-occupancy tax credit will increase and eventually hit 15.38% in the fourth year, Thomas said. That is more than the combined 12.5% credit currently given.

Once the credit is fully implemented, homeowners will save $400 million in property taxes annually, Thomas said.

The savings for homeowners, Thomas said, come from companies owning rental properties, which will lose all of the tax credits.

“Out-of-state corporate owners buy up single-family homes, and it hurts the supply market and we’ve been subsidizing them to do it,” Thomas said.

“This is a savings for those who own and live in their homes. It’s revenue neutral to state taxpayers, but we increase the savings to those who really need it the most. We’re directing the money more appropriately.”

The owner-occupancy item was an amendment by the Senate to a bill, approved by the Ohio House on Oct. 22, to cap how much money school districts can collect to the rate of inflation, which is about 3%.

In addition to the increased owner-occupancy percentage, House Bill 186 will save Ohio property owners about $1.7 billion over the next three years by establishing a new cap tax credit that prevents increases in school districts from exceeding the rate of inflation.

The bill limits unvoted property taxes collected by school districts, known as the 20-mill floor. It would start with the second half of the 2026 tax bills if approved by the Senate.

Every school district in the state is guaranteed to receive 20 mills. Close to 500 of the state’s 611 school districts have an effective rate that is below the guaranteed 20-mill floor, but 20 mills are still applied to the district’s value, Thomas said.

The 20-mill floor is a main reason for the large increases in unvoted property taxes over the past few years, Thomas said, as values increased.

The average homeowner will save about $128 next year in property taxes, but those living in urban and larger school districts at or above the 20-mill floor won’t see a reduction. That includes Youngstown.

Also, those in school districts close to the 20-mill floor will see only small decreases in property taxes under this bill. That includes those in Austintown, Boardman, Canfield, Struthers, Warren, Girard and Brookfield school districts.

Those living in Poland, Campbell, Jackson-Milton, Lakeview, Howland and McDonald school districts will see the largest savings in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

The average property value in Mahoning County increased by 38% in the last revaluation in 2023 and by 35% in Trumbull County.

The state will provide $360 million to school districts as a one-time payment in the first year.

The Senate approved another Thomas-sponsored bill that provides similar caps to inflation on inside millage collected by local governments. Counties can collect up to 10 mills of inside millage without a vote.

The bill, H.B. 335, will save property tax owners between $621 million and $763 million over the next three years.

The Senate also voted Wednesday in favor of two Thomas-sponsored bills approved Oct. 8 by the House.

H.B. 309 gives county budget commissions — made up of the county auditor, treasurer and prosecutor — control over tax rates and levies.

The commission would be permitted to unilaterally cut property tax rates if revenues exceed expenditures, even if voters approved ballot initiatives for that funding.

The other bill, H.B. 129, requires school districts to include emergency and substitute levies in their 20-mill floor, which guarantees they receive at least 20 mills of funding even if they are below that amount.

This would put 237 of the state’s 611 school districts off the floor, Thomas said.

The fifth property bill, approved Nov. 12 by the Senate, changes the process of property valuations and puts it in local hands.

Called the Flip the Script Act, H.B. 124 puts county auditors in charge of the sales used to determine valuation changes, which happens every three years, and alters the burden to challenge sales to the Ohio Department of Taxation.

Flip the Script received unanimous support.

The four bills passed by the Senate failed to get any votes from the nine Democrats in the upper chamber, though a number of House Democrats voted in favor of them.

Senate Democratic Leader Nickie J. Antonio, D-Lakewood, said: “While I support increasing the owner-occupancy credit, a number of these bills do not go nearly far enough in addressing the property tax crisis facing Ohioans. We will provide real property tax relief when the state is required to pay its fair share and help the homeowners who need it the most. Otherwise, communities will have no choice but to keep raising taxes or make cuts to public schools, police and fire, libraries, local governments or county agencies.”